EMOTIONAL HEALTH, AND SPENDING TIME IN NATURE

For many people, nature represents a place to rest and recover from daily stress. Recent researches emphasized that living in neighbourhood with comparatively plentiful walkable green space was correlated with a better perceived general health, and a lower mortality risk (Maars et all, 2006; Van Dillen et all, 2011). Moreover, physical activity in nature is an important recovery aspect in psychological illness, such as anxiety or depression. This study proposed to investigate the relation between spending time in nature (as a preffered free time activity in the form of walking in the park, playing games in nature, trips etc.) and emotional health (functional/dysfunctional emotions). We used Emotional Distress Profile to measure emotional health, and an open answer exercise ,,20 things I like to do``, to assess the spending time in nature variable. Statistical analyses were computed. Results showed that people who preffered to spend time in nature expressed a higher number of functional emotions compared to people who preffered other activities (in door activities)